By Ike House
The South Panola Tigers (9-0 overall, 5-0 district) continued their success on Thursday night against the Southaven Chargers. The Tigers remained undefeated on the season and in district play with a 41-3 blowout.
Everything seemed to click for the Tigers as they moved the ball fluently and played dominant defense. Southaven elected to receive the ball first and attempted to move the ball against the defense.
“We weren’t perfect but it’s a challenge each week,” Head coach Lance Pogue said. “Even when you are playing a team that may not be having a lot of success, you still have to play them hard.”
On the first play from scrimmage there was an offside flag on the defense which moved the ball and put the Chargers in a first and five situation. D. J. Hall showed up big in the game and had key tackles that helped stall the drive after a third and nine.
The Tigers, on their first drive they could not get off the ground after short runs by Oluwain Hoskins. When the Chargers went on offense, it only took three plays for the defense to get the ball back after a Hall interception. After going back on offense the Tigers had a nine-play drive capped off by an eight-yard run by Demetrius Market. Steven Collins knocked in the PAT that put the first lead of 7-0 on the board.
The Tigers defense forced a three and out and put the ball back in the offense’s hands. On second and 11, Tyler Pogue found Cole Rotenberry deep for 50 yards and a touchdown followed by an extra point that increased the score to 14-0.
After four combined stalled drives by both teams, the Chargers started deep inside of their own territory on the four. After they got a two-yard gain, K. T. Pegues had his first interception of the season that led to a 17-yard return for a touchdown. The return took the score to 21-0 with a good PAT.
After stopping the Chargers again, the Tigers got the ball on their own 18 and had a long way to put points up before the half. After a three and out, the Tigers lined up for a punt that was blocked and recovered on the three. The Chargers had plenty of time and only three yards to go to cut into the lead.
The Tigers defense stood the test and came away victorious. On the first play the Chargers tried to sneak a pass into the game but the quarterback was hurried resulting in an incompletion. After two penalties on the Tigers the Chargers still could not capitalize and were forced into a field goal, that put the score at 21-3 at the half.
Two short drives resulted after halftime but the Tigers did not stay down for long. Quadarius Shivers came out and moved the ball with four carries for 31 yards on the drive. On fourth and goal, Pogue found Deyvn Pegues on a four yard touchdown. The score increased the lead to 27-3 after a failed PAT.
After stopping the Chargers offense once again, the Tigers got the ball into different hands to help get the ball down the field. On the drive Pogue completed two passes to Donald Twilley for 16 yards, Jamian Johnson, Market, Shivers and JaMicheal Robinson touched the ball. Robinson finished the drive off with a two yard run for a score. The points were increased to 34-3 with a Collins extra point.
On the next Charger series, Turner Rotenberry flashed his excellence once again with an interception that puts him a 10 for the season.
The Tigers brought the second stringers to capitalize on the turnover. Patrick Shegog was the leader and showed promise for the next season, completing four passes on for 26 yards and finishing with a 10-yard pass to Jordan Strong for the score. That led to final score of the game that ended in a Collins PAT.
The Tigers will face Columbus for homecoming this Friday to place for the first play in the district and home field advantage throughout the playoffs.
“We’ve been there before and it’s all about preparation,” Pogue said “Its homecoming and we will have a big crowd and I know our guys will be ready.”
Leading the Tigers on offense were the quarterbacks. Pogue went 10-11 for 159 yards and two touchdowns while Patrick Shegog went 4-4 for 26 yards and a touchdown.
“Both quarterbacks were sharp and when they loaded the box we were able to hit some deep balls,” Pogue added “Tyler (Pogue) came in and is getting back into his rhythm and Patrick (Shegog) is a kid with a bright future and his time is coming.”
For the rushers, Oluwain Hoskins had 10 carries for 65 yards. Market had 11 carries for 54 yards and a touchdown. Shivers had nine carries for 48 yards while Markell Gleaton had three carries for 20 yards. Robinson had seven carries for 16 yards and a touchdown. Johnson had five carries for 11 yards.
In the receiving corps, Twilley had six catches for 65 yards and a touchdown. Rotenberry had two catches for 55 yards and a touchdown. Stevon Hill had two catches for 34 yards while Strong had three catches for 24 yards and a touchdown. Pegues had one catch for four yards and a touchdown and Kyle Weaver had a catch for two yards.
On defense D.J. Hall had nine tackles and an interception. Others on defense were Derrick Sanford who had three tackles. O’Bryan Goodson had three tackles and two tackles for a loss. Eriq Kitchen had three tackles, a sack and a tackle for a loss. Kentravious Benson had two tackles, a pass deflection and a tackle for a loss.
Tawain Obey had two tackles and a tackle for a loss. Kenon Johnson, JaTerion Draper and Robert Hentz had two tackles each. Turner Rotenberry had a tackle and an interception. K.T. Pegues had a tackle and interception for a touchdown.
Hill, Porter, Laddarius Rudd, Jaylon Ford, Jolian Gleaton, Willie Laws, A.J. Polk and Kendarius Willingham all had a tackle each. Kadarius Ford had a pass deflection.
“We have played very good defensively for a few weeks in a row,” Pogue added “I felt we were going to be a good defensive team all alonegand it is starting to kick in.”